LOS ANGELES — Casey Affleck's performance in Manchester by the Sea was one of two tickets to the Oscar Best Actor race stamped at Sundance, the other being Nate Parker's for The Birth of a Nation. Poised for new career heights, the Park City breakouts harbored another similarity: Each had past allegations of sexual misconduct hiding in plain sight.

Discussion of rape allegations against Parker have already effectively taken him out of Oscar contention; he's now spoken at great length about the case. But Affleck has sailed through so far without mention of the two women, a producer and a cinematographer, who in separate 2010 lawsuits accused him of boorish and harassing behavior — including unwelcome physical advances — while shooting the Joaquin Phoenix docu-farce I'm Still Here.

Those cases, which sought more than $2 million each, were characterized as extortion attempts by Affleck's lawyer and settled out of court. Affleck declined through his publicist to speak with Mashable about the allegations, which were reported in the tabloid and trade press when they were filed just over six years ago.

Now, with an Oscar nomination at stake for both actors, Parker is being routinely grilled, something he can expect to continue as Fox Searchlight rolls toward the Oct. 7 release of The Birth of a Nation, including a full junket and press conference scheduled for the Toronto Film Festival.

Meanwhile, Affleck was just "feted" at the Telluride Film Festival, where he received a special tribute and gave multiple interviews tied to Manchester screenings that solidified his position as a Best Actor in the making. He was never asked about the allegations, or how they might be perceived vis a vis Parker.

Casey Affleck at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016.

Image: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images

Nate Parker’s history is reigniting the conflict between art and artist, and whether they should or can be separate. But the equation has a similar calculus when applied to Affleck's performance in Manchester by the Sea.

Both actors were accused of behavior toward women that was sexual in nature, legally actionable in stature and not widely discussed or contemplated when first reported. But at the time, neither was a potential Best Actor nominee. Now, the spotlight shines brighter, and with it comes a fresh round of scrutiny.

Their cases have fundamental differences, of course. Parker's was a criminal matter, while Affleck's was civil.

Back in 1999, a 19-year-old Parker and eventual Nation co-story writer Jean Celestin were accused of raping a fellow Penn State student when she was unconscious and unable to consent. Parker was acquitted and Celestin's conviction was later vacated.

Affleck, still best known as the younger brother of Ben, was in his mid-30s and already supporting-actor nominated for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford when he was accused of repeatedly sexually harassing and berating two female colleagues during the 2009 production. One of the women accused Affleck of sneaking into her bed while she slept, then startling her awake in what was described in court papers as an unwelcome sexual advance.

The I'm Still Here bro-down showdown

That case was filed by Magdalena Górka, an experienced Polish cinematographer who, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles and obtained by Mashable, agreed in December 2008 to shoot I'm Still Here, the freewheeling (and later revealed as phony) documentary about Phoenix's transition from actor to rapper.

The project attracted the most attention for Phoenix's odd, disheveled public behavior during production, including that infamous appearance on Late Night With David Letterman. What was going on behind the scenes, according to the lawsuits, was more unsettling.

Casey Afflecek and Joaquin Phoenix during a promotional stop on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" for "I'm Still Here."

Image: Karen Neal/ABC via Getty Images

Górka, the only woman on the crew, alleges the lewd comments began almost immediately and continued daily, including sexual advances and suggestions that she sleep with her camera assistant, Antony Langdon — one of Affleck's good buddies and the guitarist for the British/American rock band Spacehog — who was hired as part of the crew. (Langdon did not respond to requests for comment.)

Tensions boiled over during filming in New York; Górka says the crew was lodged in Affleck's apartment, where he offered to take the couch so she could use his bedroom. She says she put on a camisole and pajama pants and went to sleep, and that at some point Affleck snuck in and curled up next to her in the middle of the night.

Gorka said she didn't know how long Affleck, who she claims reeked of alcohol, had been there. From the complaint:

Affleck had his arm around her and was caressing her back and his face was right next to hers. ... Plaintiff was shocked and repulsed because she did not know where he had touched her while she was sleeping. ... [Górka] immediately jumped up and told Affleck to get out of her bed. Affleck responded by asking "Why?" Plaintiff said "Because you are married and because you are my boss." Affleck, undeterred, asked if Plaintiff "was sure." Plaintiff said she was sure and insisted that he leave the room. Affleck left and slammed the door in anger.

Affleck was married at the time to Summer Phoenix (the sister of Joaquin), though the couple separated earlier this year.

Read the entirety of Górka's lawsuit here:

Though Górka confronted Affleck the next morning and left the project, she was convinced weeks later to return by Amanda White, a producer on I'm Still Here, according to the documents. Assured that White would be present during production and hopeful that another woman on set would tamp down the harassment, Górka came back.

But the hostile environment persisted, she says, including a night in Costa Rica when Affleck and Phoenix locked themselves inside the women's shared room. Crew members told them the brothers-in-law were in there having sex with two other women, despite the fact that they had their own rooms, the documents claim.

Amanda White's side of the story

Górka's stories were corroborated by White — the producer who'd convinced her to return, and who had known Affleck for more a decade — in a lawsuit White filed just days before Górka's.

Antony Langdon of Spacehog performs on October 2, 2013 in Leeds, England.

Image: Redferns via Getty Images

According to White's suit, Affleck ordered Górka's camera assistant Langdon (above) to show her his genitals on a plane, which he did despite her protests; tried to manipulate White into staying in his hotel room on location in San Francisco and when she refused, "violently" grabbed her arm; and later berated and intimidated White and Górka during a meeting at his home, where he "grew livid with [White] when she refused to succumb to his intimidation tactics."

She also describes a Las Vegas shoot that Affleck set up with several prostitutes crowded into a hotel room — a scene that White says never made the movie because it was set up solely for the director's "personal gratification."

But a good chunk of White's tale involved watching what Górka had to endure, allegedly at the hands of Affleck and Langdon, according to the documents, which claim:

During the course of production, Langdon also made repeated sexual advances towards Gorka in the presence of [White], Affleck and Phoenix. Gorka was harassed by Langdon on an almost daily basis. Langdon routinely referred to the size of his penis; asked Gorka out on dates; and discussed sexually explicit conduct. ... Although Landgdon's advances were unsolicited and Gorka complained about the work environment, she was forced to continue working directly with Langdon.

Read the entirety of White's lawsuit here:

Affleck's side: Nothing but an 'extortionate tactic'

Casey Affleck speaks during the Telluride Film Festival on September 3, 2016.

Image: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images

Martin Singer, bulldog attorney to the stars who represented Affleck in both cases, filed a lengthy motion July 27, 2010, just days after White's lawsuit and before Górka's, to compel the matter into arbitration.

But more than seeking an out-of-court venue, the filing implied that White had "concocted this fabricated sexual harassment lawsuit over a year after she failed in her devious attempt [to] extort a better production deal."

The motion, obtained by Mashable, included references to emails between White and Affleck that were friendly and professional in nature — not an unusual dynamic in cases of abuse — including well-wishes and thank-yous apparently sent after she had left I'm Still Here. It also said the attorney who filed White's lawsuit, Brian Procel, tried to renegotiate her deal months before any accusations of harassment flew.

Read the entire response here:

The motion was never granted, nor would it need to be.

Six weeks later, among the hype and confusion that surrounded the release of I'm Still Here (which Affleck and Phoenix were still stubbornly insisting was a real documentary, though few believed them), the Los Angeles Times published a long story about Phoenix, the actor, possibly coming out of his bizarre "retirement."

Buried deep within the item was an update on the harassment cases: Affleck had settled with White and Górka. A joint statement from both sides read simply:

The disputes between Flemmy Productions, LLC and Casey Affleck with Amanda White and Magdalena Gorka in connection with the film 'I'm Still Here' have been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.

A few weeks later, on October 4, 2010, both Górka and White separately filed requests that their lawsuits be dismissed. The amount of money exchanged in the settlements, if any, was not disclosed, and the matter was ended.

We'll never know what really happened

If Affleck indeed paid Górka and White, whatever they recovered likely came with ironclad legal guarantees that they never speak to anyone about the case. Each is still listed in the I'm Still Here credits; neither responded to Mashable's request for comment.

White has moved on to television specials, while Górka immediately shifted to Paranormal Activity 3, and has shot several smaller-scale feature films since, the most recent being An Ordinary Man, a 2017 war-crimes drama starring Peter Serafinowicz and Ben Kingsley. But there's no telling what real impact the lawsuit has had on her Hollywood trajectory.

Górka's original filing took the unusual step of pointing out that she was a first-time accuser and was concerned about damage to her reputation that speaking out might inflict:

During her 16 years working in the entertainment industry, [Górka] has never accused anyone of sexual harassment. She has never filed a lawsuit against anyone for any reason. And she has struggled with her decision to file this lawsuit — she is justifiably concerned about the effect this lawsuit will have on her career.

She notes that the experience, after 16 years of working with top directors and cinematographers, was "the most traumatizing of her career" — suggesting that the on-set harassment of women is hardly isolated to what you read in court filings.

Now the matter goes to the court of the Film Academy's voters, most of whom have spent their fair share of time on movie sets. But in the wake of Nate Parker, they may also be less inclined to separate the art from the artist.

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